Albuquerque Innsights

Home, Home at the Range

Our guests ask us where they should go for a good meal, all the time. We expect that, as it’s part of the concierge service a bed and breakfast offers guests. We usually ask two questions in return, every time – “What kind of food are you hungry for?” and “Do you want big ambiance or do you want to go where the locals go? There are quite a few Albuquerque restaurants we like to send our guests to, and they are always where we like to go ourselves.

Most times people don’t care or know exactly what kind of food they want, and they almost always say they want to go where the locals go. One place we send our guests to pretty regularly is the Range Cafe, and it’s one of a few Albuquerque restaurants we go to pretty often.

The original Range Cafe is in a town north of us called Bernalillo, (burn ah leo), and even though it is a 25 minute ride, we will occasionally venture all the way up there because they offer up some pretty good music in their bar. But lucky for us, the Range opened a couple of locations in Albuquerque, and one of them is just 2.8 miles, ten minutes or less from Adobe Nido.

Being that we’re out here in the wide, wide west you would think this cafe’s name was based on the home, home on the range type of range, but no. Our Range is named in deference to the stove type range, and they have a very cool collection of mini, toy type range stoves on display at our location on Menaul NE). The Menaul location is also decorated with some very nifty tile work all around the indoor, booth-side perimeter, round sculpted paper lamp shades with marbles in them, a mural of cows and coyotes on the range and an old neon sign that has nothing to do with anything but is very cool in itself – a woman diving into a non existent pool.

The food at The Range Cafes is – in my opinion – a nice eclectic mix of home cooking with a gourmet edge. Lamb shank that falls of the bone. Meatloaf better than mom’s. A seemingly endless pile of delicious fried fish. Crab cakes that rival the ones in Maryland. Some of the best New Mexican dishes in the city. Unique specialty salads big enough to be a meal for two! You can’t go wrong at The Range Cafe because there menu truly has something for every taste.

You can get beer and wine, but no hard liquor at the Menaul location, but I don’t care, because they make a perfect margarita out of agave wine that is better than the real deal for me. I LOVE ’em!

Whatever you do…don’t pass up on the chance to have one of their signature appetizers – the Chili Strips. They are whole green chilis that have been roosted, peeled, dipped, lightly breaded and fried up crispy. The sauce that comes with them is cool cream and jalapenos – spicy hot! These are NOT Chili Rellenos. No Stuffing – just light and crispy hot little morsels of chili love to share with your buddy.

Please consider a trip to The Range Cafe when you are visiting Albuquerque. We’ve never had a complaint with them, and neither do our Albuquerque Bed and Breakfast guests. For a full menu go to their website rangecafe.com.

BEWARE of the giant cream puff diet killer!

I know the best places to eat in Albuquerque!
Sarah Dolk, Adobe Nido Bed & Breakfast
Expert on Destination Albuquerque and Central New Mexico!